Absolution by Paul E. Hardisty ** Book Review**

 I'm delighted to be taking part in Orenda's celebrations for the publication of Paul E Hardisty's thriller, Absolution which is the fourth instalment in the Claymore Straker series. I reviewed the third in the series, Reconciliation for the Dead which you can read here.

 

It's 1997, eight months since vigilante justice-seeker Claymore Straker fled South Africa after his explosive testimony to Desmond Tutu's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Joining forces with journalist Rania LaTour, whose family have gone missing, events lead them both to Egypt, where an act of the most shocking terrorist brutality will reveal not only why those they loved were sacrificed, but how they were both, indirectly, responsible. At times brutal, often lyrical, always gripping - a thriller that will leave you breathless and questioning the very basis of how we live and why we love.

 My Thoughts

Although this is the fourth book in the series, it can be read as a standalone in its own right. It is quite a complicated tale, with the narrative split between Claymore and his former lover, Rania. We are given her thoughts through her diary. She had settled in Paris and is now desperate to find out what has happened to her husband and young son. Claymore has made many enemies after his testimony at Desmond Tutu's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and I shared his confusion at the beginning as to who they were and what was happening to him.

    Once again, Paul Hardisty's writing is robust and eminently readable. Claymore's grief is at times palpable and there are some brutal moments. In Egypt, terrorism is an ever-present danger and at times, you feel as though you are inside Claymore's thoughts as he wonders what has happened to Rania. Set against real life events, this book highlights the effect of terrorism and atrocities on the individual.

In short: hardhitting thriller with a compelling plot.

About the Author

 

Canadian Paul Hardisty has spent 25 years working all over the world as an engineer, hydrologist and environmental scientist. He has roughnecked on oil rigs in Texas, explored for gold in the Arctic, mapped geology in Eastern Turkey (where he was befriended by PKK rebels), and rehabilitated water wells in the wilds of Africa. He was in Ethiopia in 1991 as the Mengistu regime fell, and was bumped from one of the last flights out of Addis Ababa by bureaucrats and their families fleeing the rebels.  In 1993 he survived a bomb blast in a café in Sana’a, and was one of the last Westerners out of Yemen before the outbreak of the 1994 civil war. Paul is a university professor and CEO of the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). He is a sailor, a private pilot, keen outdoorsman, conservation volunteer, and lives in Western Australia.

You can follow Paul here: Twitter

Book links: Amazon UK 

 Thanks to Paul E Hardisty, Karen Sullivan and Anne Cater of Orenda Books for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.

Don't forget to check out the rest of the tour!